Posted on 10/22/2009 7:34:31 AM PDT by kronos77
Amid the worst recession in generations, Karl Marx, who famously described religion as “the opium of the people”, got a thumbs up from the Vatican overturning a century of Catholic hostility to his creed.
Marx, who predicted that capitalism would be destroyed by its internal contradictions, has joined Galileo, Charles Darwin and Oscar Wilde on a growing list of historical figures to have undergone an unlikely reappraisal by the Roman Catholic Church, The Times newspaper said on Thursday.
The British daily, quoting the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, said Marx’s early critiques of capitalism had highlighted the “social alienation” felt by the “large part of humanity” that remained excluded from economic and political decision-making.
Amid signs of recovery in global financial markets, Christian leaders have flayed the capitalist system for displaying a lack of moral values, arguing that ethical debates needs to be given greater prominence.
Georg Sans, a German-born professor of the history of contemporary philosophy at the pontifical Gregorian University, argues that Marx’s work remained especially relevant today as mankind was seeking “a new harmony” between its needs and the natural environment.
The report quoted Prof. Sans as saying that Marx’s theories may help to explain the enduring issue of income inequality within capitalist societies.
(Excerpt) Read more at beta.thehindu.com ...
>>(Step 1) Make a thoroughly ridiculous and incendiary charge;
(Step 2) As the pathetically lame and indefensible nature of the initial charge is demolished, do not acknowledge the irresponsibility and dishonesty of the initial charge; but
(Step 3) Change the subject and insist that the new subject become what is discussed.<<
Oh and you certainly hit the nail on the head with this.
Did you see the “Catholic site” by the New Age Jewish woman posted the other day?
Silly little mix-up...
There y’all GO, gittin’ all rational, and intelligent, and perceptive an’ all.
It’s enough to make a body smile. :D
Incorrect. Suggest you stop letting Katie Couric do your thinking for you.
Read the encyclical yourself; although it is highly unlikely that you will be able to comprehend much of it.
>>Silly little mix-up...<<
Oh yes! But, but, but a Catholic Priest took the picture, dontcha know...
The article you posted is idiotic and the people who write this trash have no idea what the Church has taught against Communism , Maexisim the evils of false liberty etc... through history
Here is something to help you and others
NOSTIS ET NOBISCUM
ON THE CHURCH IN THE PONTIFICAL STATES
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS IX
DECEMBER 8, 1849
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9nostis.htm
Written the year following the publication of the Communist Manifesto
18. As regards this teaching and these theories, it is now generally known that the special goal of their proponents is to introduce to the people the pernicious fictions of Socialism and Communism by misapplying the terms “liberty” and “equality.” The final goal shared by these teachings, whether of Communism or Socialism, even if approached differently, is to excite by continuous disturbances workers and others, especially those of the lower class, whom they have deceived by their lies and deluded by the promise of a happier condition. They are preparing them for plundering, stealing, and usurping first the Church’s and then everyone’s property. After this they will profane all law, human and divine, to destroy divine worship and to subvert the entire ordering of civil societies.
6. You are aware indeed, that the goal of this most iniquitous plot is to drive people to overthrow the entire order of human affairs and to draw them over to the wicked theories of this Socialism and Communism, by confusing them with perverted teachings. But these enemies realize that they cannot hope for any agreement with the Catholic Church, which allows neither tampering with truths proposed by faith, nor adding any new human fictions to them. This is why they try to draw the Italian people over to Protestantism, which in their deceit they repeatedly declare to be only another form of the same true religion of Christ, thereby just as pleasing to God. Meanwhile they know full well that the chief principle of the Protestant tenets, i.e., that the holy scriptures are to be understood by the personal judgment of the individual, will greatly assist their impious cause. They are confident that they can first misuse the holy scriptures by wrong interpretation to spread their errors and claim God’s authority while doing it. Then they can cause men to call into doubt the common principles of justice and honor.
25. But if the faithful scorn both the fatherly warnings of their pastors and the commandments of the Christian Law recalled here, and if they let themselves be deceived by the present-day promoters of plots, deciding to work with them in their perverted theories of Socialism and Communism, let them know and earnestly consider what they are laying up for themselves. The Divine Judge will seek vengeance on the day of wrath. Until then no temporal benefit for the people will result from their conspiracy, but rather new increases of misery and disaster. For man is not empowered to establish new societies and unions which are opposed to the nature of mankind. If these conspiracies spread throughout Italy there can only be one result: if the present political arrangement is shaken violently and totally ruined by reciprocal attacks of citizens against citizens by their wrongful appropriations and slaughter, in the end some few, enriched by the plunder of many, will seize supreme control to the ruin of all.
THE SYLLABUS OF ERRORS CONDEMNED BY PIUS IX
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9syll.htm
Here is a list of Grave sinful errors
14. Philosophy is to be treated without taking any account of supernatural revelation.
15. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.
16. Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation.
24. The Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect.
27. The sacred ministers of the Church and the Roman pontiff are to be absolutely excluded from every charge and dominion over temporal affairs.
55. The Church ought to be separated from the .State, and the State from the Church.
74. Matrimonial causes and espousals belong by their nature to civil tribunals.
77. In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship.
80. The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization.
Note: from Quibus quantisque, 1849. (This encyclical/allocution probably applies to freemasons. Unfortunately, no copy in English has yet been located.)
64. The violation of any solemn oath, as well as any wicked and flagitious action repugnant to the eternal law, is not only not blamable but is altogether lawful and worthy of the highest praise when done through love of country.
Written in 1879: on socialism / quod apostolici muneris —‘the deadly plague’ Pope Leo XIII
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13apost.htm
At the very beginning of Our pontificate, as the nature of Our apostolic office demanded, we hastened to point out in an encyclical letter addressed to you, venerable brethren, the deadly plague that is creeping into the very fibers of human society and leading it on to the verge of destruction; at the same time We pointed out also the most effectual remedies by which society might be restored and might escape from the very serious dangers which threaten it. But the evils which We then deplored have so rapidly increased that We are again compelled to address you, as though we heard the voice of the prophet ringing in Our ears: “Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet.” You understand, venerable brethren, that We speak of that sect of men who, under various and almost barbarous names, are called socialists, communists, or nihilists, and who, spread over all the world, and bound together by the closest ties in a wicked confederacy, no longer seek the shelter of secret meetings, but, openly and boldly marching forth in the light of day, strive to bring to a head what they have long been planning — the overthrow of all civil society whatsoever.
INSCRUTABILI DEI
ON THE EVILS OF SOCIETY
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13evl.htm
5. It is perfectly clear and evident, venerable brothers, that the very notion of civilization is a fiction of the brain if it rest not on the abiding principles of truth and the unchanging laws of virtue and justice, and if unfeigned love knit not together the wills of men, and gently control the interchange and the character of their mutual service. Now, who would make bold to deny that the Church, by spreading the Gospel throughout the nations, has brought the light of truth amongst people utterly savage and steeped in foul superstition, and has quickened them alike to recognize the Divine Author of nature and duly to respect themselves? Further, who will deny that the Church has done away with the curse of slavery and restored men to the original dignity of their noble nature; and — by uplifting the standard of redemption in all quarters of the globe, by introducing, or shielding under her protection, the sciences and arts, by founding and taking into her keeping excellent charitable institutions which provide relief for ills of every kind — has throughout the world, in private or in public life, civilized the human race, freed it from degradation, and with all care trained it to a way of living such as befits the dignity and the hopes of man? And if any one of sound mind compare the age in which We live, so hostile to religion and to the Church of Christ, with those happy times when the Church was revered as a mother by the nations, beyond all question he will see that our epoch is rushing wildly along the straight road to destruction; while in those times which most abounded in excellent institutions, peaceful life, wealth, and prosperity the people showed themselves most obedient to the Church’s rule and laws. Therefore, if the many blessings We have mentioned, due to the agency and saving help of the Church, are the true and worthy outcome of civilization, the Church of Christ, far from being alien to or neglectful of progress, has a just claim to all men’s praise as its nurse, its mistress, and its mother.
6. Furthermore, that kind of civilization which conflicts with the doctrines and laws of holy Church is nothing but a worthless imitation and meaningless name. Of this those peoples on whom the Gospel light has never shown afford ample proof, since in their mode of life a shadowy semblance only of civilization is discoverable, while its true and solid blessings have never been possessed. Undoubtedly, that cannot by any means be accounted the perfection of civilized life which sets all legitimate authority boldly at defiance; nor can that be regarded as liberty which, shamefully and by the vilest means, spreading false principles, and freely indulging the sensual gratification of lustful desires, claims impunity for all crime and misdemeanor, and thwarts the goodly influence of the worthiest citizens of whatsoever class. Delusive, perverse, and misleading as are these principles, they cannot possibly have any inherent power to perfect the human race and fill it with blessing, for “sin maketh nations miserable.”[3] Such principles, as a matter of course, must hurry nations, corrupted in mind and heart, into every kind of infamy, weaken all right order, and thus, sooner or later, bring the standing and peace of the State to the very brink of ruin.
from...POPE PIUS XI
MIT BRENNENDER SORGE
On the Church and the German Reich
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/P11BRENN.HTM
8. Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State, or a particular form of State, or the depositories of power, or any other fundamental value of the human community — however necessary and honorable be their function in worldly things — whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God and from the concept of life which that faith upholds.
9. Beware, Venerable Brethren, of that growing abuse, in speech as in writing, of the name of God as though it were a meaningless label, to be affixed to any creation, more or less arbitrary, of human speculation. Use your influence on the Faithful, that they refuse to yield to this aberration. Our God is the Personal God, supernatural, omnipotent, infinitely perfect, one in the Trinity of Persons, tri-personal in the unity of divine essence, the Creator of all existence. Lord, King and ultimate Consummator of the history of the world, who will not, and cannot, tolerate a rival God by His side.
10. This God, this Sovereign Master, has issued commandments whose value is independent of time and space, country and race. As God’s sun shines on every human face so His law knows neither privilege nor exception. Rulers and subjects, crowned and uncrowned, rich and poor are equally subject to His word. From the fullness of the Creators’ right there naturally arises the fullness of His right to be obeyed by individuals and communities, whoever they are. This obedience permeates all branches of activity in which moral values claim harmony with the law of God, and pervades all integration of the ever-changing laws of man into the immutable laws of God.
MATER ET MAGISTRA(Church as Mother and Teacher of All Nations)
Written by POPE JOHN XXIII ON MAY 15, 1961
11. As is well known, the outlook that prevailed on economic matters was for the most part a purely naturalistic one, which denied any correlation between economics and morality. Personal gain was considered the only valid motive for economic activity. In business the main operative principle was that of free and unrestricted competition. Interest on capital, prices — whether of goods or of services — profits and wages, were to be determined by the purely mechanical application of the laws of the market place. Every precaution was to be taken to prevent the civil authority from intervening in any way in economic matters. The status of trade unions varied in different countries. They were either forbidden, tolerated, or recognized as having private legal personality only.
12. In an economic world of this character, it was the might of the strongest which not only arrogated to itself the force of law, but also dominated the ordinary business relationships between individuals, and thereby undermined the whole economic structure.
13. Enormous riches accumulated in the hands of a few, while large numbers of workingmen found themselves in conditions of ever-increasing hardship. Wages were insufficient even to the point of reaching starvation level, and working conditions were often of such a nature as to be injurious alike to health, morality and religious faith. Especially inhuman were the working conditions to which women and children were sometimes subjected. There was also the constant specter of unemployment and the progressive disruption of family life.
14. The natural consequence of all this was a spirit of indignation and open protest on the part of the workingman, and a widespread tendency to subscribe to extremist theories far worse in their effects than the evils they purported to remedy.
I read the important parts it was discussed here on FR. I’d suggest you go back to loking for little alter boys.
She also got a lecture, apparently. And no photo op. You want a lecture?
Lots of people get to meet the Pope personally. My confessor has a picture of himself shaking the last Pope's hand. So?
Sure you did that's why you couldn't even recall the title.
I’d suggest you go back to loking(sic) for little alter(sic) boys.
I suggest that a person who has trouble spelling, let alone comprehending the written word, will have quite a bit of explaining to do during their particular judgment regarding their habit of violating the Eighth Commandment. You'd better hope and pray that ignorance is a mitigating factor.
“They don’t believe God will take care of the bigger plan when people take care of their own business.”
Exactly.
No-one has the capability to take care of everyone - or even worry about everyone. To think so is to think that person a God.
So it is better for every little person to take care of himself and his own, rather than meddle in the affairs of a person halfway round the world of whom they know nothing.
“They don’t believe God will take care of the bigger plan when people take care of their own business.”
Exactly.
No-one has the capability to take care of everyone - or even worry about everyone. To think so is to think that person a God.
So it is better for every little person to take care of himself and his own, rather than meddle in the affairs of a person halfway round the world of whom he knows nothing.
Be vewwy, vewwy quiet ... we're hunting Hahvahd symbologists ...
Sorry, I was typing fast and not paying attention.
Loking?
Why? Do they need lessons on how to light a thurible, or prepare a chalice for Mass?
Benediction. I know how to do Benediction setup. I'm your man.
Thanks for this. I’m bookmarking it.
A, no doubt, common occurrence in your life.
Oh I have been witness to the results of a holy lecture. She is still lying, cheating stealing this nations identity. Well who knows IF the Lord needs or desires a lecture to be given, He will pave that road to such an occasion to occur... But I would not have a problem giving a lecture... if you know what I mean.
Lots of people get to meet the Pope personally. My confessor has a picture of himself shaking the last Pope's hand. So?
I have NO clue what My confessor means. It is written that upon the death of our Saviour on the cross the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom and any who would had direct access to the Heavenly Father through HIS only Begotten Son. Flesh man was no long needed to perform this prior duty.
The priest I regularly confess to.
It is written
See John 20:21-23, for "what is written," right there in black and white, in the very words of Jesus.
I've noticed that whenever someone makes a idiotic crack about altar boys, they never manage to spell it correctly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.